Lions, Jaguars and a Hippo

A few weeks have passed since the school started in Victoria. All seems well there and activities here are back to normal after the Easter Week. Well ... almost.

This week is the annual fair for Santa Cruz. Yesterday was the day of the celebration of the Holy Cross and there was a procession to mark the event. Included in the procession was a statute of Mary which was ‘visiting’ from a neighbouring parish. The statue is over 600 years old so has done lots of travelling in its day. It never ceases to amaze me how much church history is a part of Honduras. With churches and artefacts hundreds of years old, it is such a contrast to the situation in Alberta where a building of 100 years is something to stop and look at.

This is also an opportunity to pause and reflect about our own roles here in Honduras. We must be careful to ensure that we are walking carefully in the footsteps of generations of people who have maintained and gained strength from their traditions. We are here to walk with them and to enable them and ourselves to maintain and benefit from the wisdom and strength that is already here. It is all too easy to look at the half empty glass rather than being enabled by the half full. It is even easier to forget the huge space above the water level in our own glass.

The fair brings with it a number of, for me, exotic fringe attractions. The usual fair rides are set up in small little lots as close to the town centre as possible. The centre of town is crowded with booths selling used clothing, trinkets, beer, sweets and fair fare. There are two stages set up for different types of entertainment each evening ranging from boxing, a beauty pageant, music competitions to live bands. I skipped the beauty pageant because it started to rain heavily.  Fireworks echo through the town each night at about midnight.

Yesterday, as I was putting gas in the truck, a big trailer pulled in to gas up. In the trailer were 8 lions, 2 jaguars and a small hippo (the hippo safely in a separate cage from the lions – although within scent and sight of the interested felines.) A crowd gathered quickly. They watched the lions and I watched the crowd. All were happy.

Last week also saw the completion of a new stove, Kim 1. This stove uses the rocket stove principle for the inside but the outside utilizes Honduran usage ideas. In the future, we hope to add a water heating component and, depending on our inventiveness, a bread oven component. The builder, Manuel Paz, is very proud of the effort and already has orders to build two more. His mother switched to using the stove even before it was completed so that is a good sign. We shall see what future versions will look like.

Manuel holding up the 'plancha' or stove top.

Note the storage area underneath and the food prep area in the front and the back.

The stove top features space for several pots, opportunity for tortillas, grilling meat and varying temperatures zones.

 The rains are almost here and we have had a couple of showers to settle the dust. This has cooled down the temperature but raised the humidity so ... the net effect is the same.

Our digital library continues to grow. It is a pleasure to walk by students and see them reading a book or working on some math exercises that the staff has created. It is obviously of value to them and that, in the end, is the real test.

TTYL

 bb

Victoria – The Difference a Computer Makes

Several weeks ago, Consuelo arrived at our office. She had heard about the difference a computer was making in a neighbouring village. She was aware that over twelve young people were continuing their education without having to leave home.

Consuelo had organized a list of eleven young people in her village who needed to start Grade 7 and wanted to know if there was any way in which we could help. Today, thanks to Vegreville High School, we did.

When I returned to Honduras, I carried with me two computers, tucked between two pillows inside a plastic container. They were two computers being replaced in the High School and which, now, have been given another opportunity to help students study.

Consuelo and her home

First try for a student

 

Edel, our techie, spent time installing the program materials into the computer and, finally, we were able to travel to Victoria. Victoria is a tiny village about ten kilometres (thirty minutes drive on newly graded, dry season roads) from Santa Cruz, set among steep, green hills crowned with Honduran pines. There is, as in most small villages, no school after Grade 6.

At Consuelo’s house (“Just stop and ask anyone in the village where I live and they will show you.” – they did) we began to set up the computer. Very shortly, mothers and students began arriving.

Edel demonstrated starting a computer, the programs available and how to navigate. Then, he turned it over to students to try their hand at it. Within minutes, and amid much discussion and prompting from each other, they were navigating their way around the curriculum. One of the great features of our delivery system is that people who have never touched a computer in their lives can be studying within minutes.

 

First Typing Demonstration - the old guy still rules.

First Demonstration

The most interesting feature for the students was the library component. Although we are still just beginning organizing the library, there are twenty books and stories in the computer now. We listened to one of the students read the first pages of Snow White and Peter Pan. We were able to watch people hear and read a story book for the first time in their lives. That was pretty exciting (rather more in my opinion).

As we went through the program, we asked the mothers if there were any of them who had studied beyond Grade 6. None of them had. We broadened the question to see if any women in the village had studied beyond Grade 6. They discussed among themselves and were unable to think of any. When we told them that they were welcome to study as well, they were delighted. Having seen the changes in the lives of other women who have studied with us, we are eager to see them start studying.

First Story

Just before we were ready to leave, Consuelo prepared a lunch of sharp, soft cheese, beans, rice and hamburger followed by sweet, fried ripe plantains.

TTYL

BB

 

Fish – Al Fresco

Yesterday afternoon Manuel, Chepe and I were invited to a very special lunch in El Cipres. About nine months ago we regained possession of some property that was to be used for helping poor families.

In late October, a group of women asked if they could use the small pond and three fish tanks to raise fish. We were worried that they were going to get into trouble with cost of feed and so forth. There was some initial confusion about whether I might just pay for any cost overruns.

The women started by draining the pond and clearing out mud and stones to make it deep enough for tilapia. Know that five of these ladies are raising families without a husband and several of them are grandmothers. It was incredibly brave of them to dig and delve in the mud. It certainly made an impression on their community. I started by having the three tanks repaired. We all started by taking a trip to a nearby fish farm.

The ladies then went ahead and made a deal with the fish farm for the needed fry. Someone from the farm came and looked at the water supply and gave them an idea of how many fish they could raise. They also negotiated with the farm that the farm would help them obtain feed and would buy their product at the end of the journey.

Once the fish arrived, the cost of feed became apparent. Because we had settled that I was not providing money for feed, they buckled down and found ways to raise the money. They made and sold tamales (a corn mush with meat and vegetables steamed inside banana leaves) and other foods to raise the money.

Theft of their stock was a problem. So, these women took turns at night staying in the small shelter they built. During the cold weather of December this was not an enjoyable task.

Trouble with the tanks showed up quickly as well. The man who originally constructed them, cheated on the materials and so the weight of the water quickly showed up in cracked walls and so forth. The women solved the problem by combining two tanks and using the dirt from between them to reinforce the outside walls. The had noticed that the fish preferred a soil bottom over the concrete. So, their ‘new’ tank had part soil and part concrete and 30% greater volume.

Over half of the fish are sold now and they have come out of the whole project without losing money. That is a huge success in itself.

They are brimming with self confidence now and, next week, we will have a meeting to try and glean the some of the knowledge they have acquired. Without realizing it, they have become the teachers and have a set of skills that no other women in their area have.

They have drained the pond and are negotiating for a tractor to come and move stones and make it bigger.

We talked about alternative feedstuffs, other income generating projects and so forth. Because they now have a basic set of skills for working with livestock they are able to grasp new ideas and sort out some of the logistics that these ideas will require.

We need to complete a better shelter for them. We began but ran out of soil for the super adobe blocks. We had hoped that a neighbouring project would provide the soil but that didn’t work out. Another item on the ‘to do’ list. Another item on the ‘to find money for’ list as well.

Yesterday we had crispy fried fish, tajadas (fried plantains), salad and papaya cooked in a brown sugar syrup. All this was served outside by the fish ponds.

The leader of the group was able to start studying Grade 7 with us a year ago. That opportunity has translated into more than nine neighbouring children having the chance to study, several of the girls (and the lady herself) completing one grade and starting another, primary students being given a chance to read books on a computer and, now ... a fish dinner.

TTYL

bb

Holy Swimming Week Countdown

The stores are once again stocking plastic inflatable pools and what not as the national week of Honduran swimming is only a month away. Holy week is a holiday for most people and travelling to the nearest stretch of water – fresh or salt is an obsession. The rest of the year sees all of these places nearly barren but during that week they are packed. Vendors set up shop on small spits of river sand and beside normally deserted lakes shores. It is truly amazing.

Today is a cool, rainy day. After a week of warm temperatures and dusty streets, the mud and cool is welcome. Road repair has been going on outside our school and has brought extra dust. However, it has also made for smoother streets.

Our digital library continues to grow. Each week sees a few more books finished and ready for installing. This week we are also working on a dictionary to install alongside the lessons. Each step makes the program that much better and, in my mind, more exciting.

In my house, I have worked on having the bathroom painted. The oil paint fumes are rather staggering but, gradually they are subsiding. Fortunately, an early project to close all the holes along the tops of the walls left each room able to be sealed off and, therefore left me with one room fume free enough for sleeping. The plus side is nice, bright, clean walls – light blue with dark blue trim. Some wooden strips mounted on the walls in my kitchen means I can hang up utensils and some pans. This gets around the lack of cupboards.

The reports on the three ecocina/rocket stoves have been very encouraging. People are wanting to know where and when they can buy one. My hope in the next few weeks is to see if we can build a rocket stove in the traditional shape and with more space for firewood, a chimney and a small water heating system. If we can build one for about $60-70.00, we will be in great shape. The rocket stove does use considerably less fuel. For one of the families, it has meant having to cut wood only one day a month instead of four. So, the boys have three Sundays off. They are quite happy with that arrangement.

The students fill the school for four shifts a day – often two to a computer. It is so exciting to watch them each day.

Watched a funeral procession this morning. They had the coffin inside of a glass covered pick up bed. Much more impressive than the closed hearse system. There were not that many people walking behind the truck so the procession needed the extra help of a flashy unit in front.

Not much else to report. I will close with a small response I wrote to a discussion I was part of with two friends talking about hope and fear.

ttyl

bb

Back in the Saddle

After a hectic two weeks in Canada, I am back in Santa Cruz. It is so delightful to be warm again. Two weeks of Arctic temperatures, four layers and more of clothes and winter driving is enough for one year. Having said that, we managed a hike to a frozen waterfall which, in my opinion, is more gorgeous in winter than in the summer.

Students continue to come into the school to seek opportunity to study. We are at 250 registered students with almost 200 more on the waiting list. Computer access is the problem.

One of the tasks for me this week is to design a chart that shows the cost of a computer compared to the cost of schooling and other amenities. We want to show people visually that they can find a way to buy their own computer and, thus, continue their education at home. We are, without question, offering the very best public education program in Honduras at this time. We are, as well, offering that opportunity free of charge. So, people who are anxious to study need to find their own solution to the problem of a computer.

Yeni and I were talking this morning and finding ways to try and illustrate that the money for a computer was available ... it is simply a matter of choice and priority. Yeni’s family runs a pulperia (small convenience store) and so she was able to help estimate the amount of money being spent on soda in her part of the community.

- Training session for NGO learning our delivery system

Since one computer will help at least five students (in one village, we have 24 students using one computer), then it is simple to divide the cost of a computer by five. A very good model can be bought for less than $250.00 (some are at around $150.00). So, a family needs to find $50.00. A school uniform is, at the cheapest, $30.00. (This does not include the cost of a P.E. uniform and shoes). When you add the cost of pencils, textbooks and so forth, the cost of outfitting a student is well over the $50.00 mark. Adding transport, pocket money, time and so forth, it is rather obvious, to us, how important it is to find the money for a computer. Even the cost of coming to our centre is expensive in comparison. (Each day represents $1.00 – 2.00 in transport costs).

We also talked about the cost of soda. One three litre bottle is 35 Lempiras. A computer is 125 bottles. That amount of soda is easily consumed in Yeni’s neighbourhood in one to two days. The community is obviously valuing soda more than education at this point. I have seen such examples of skewed community and personal priorities wherever I have lived. In Kenya, it was miraa (a mild drug), in Canada, it is fast food and convenience sweets. I was staggered by the amount of candy being sold in every store – racks and racks.

The continued interest in our program is so exciting. We are even more excited about the improvements we are making to it on a daily basis. The many Canadian people who are interested and becoming involved in giving and providing a variety of resources is also very encouraging. As we talked in various meetings and with groups from other parts of the world interested in our delivery system, it was very obvious once again how much potential we have. Advances in technology are also giving us more ideas. The electronic readers will, almost certainly, be a way in which we can provide access to our program for a fraction of the cost and with greater flexibility. I suspect, that we will no longer need computers within the next four years. The future of education is changing dramatically and we are, likely, already behind the wave ... even though we are out front of so many others.

We have a number of challenges in the next few months. We struggle to get legal documents finalized, find ways to make quality changes to our program, getting a library of books ready for reading and getting our registration process updated. The first morning back in the office and it feels overwhelming. We shall see how it goes.

If you want more information, I can send you photos of a power point presentation we prepared for use in Canada.

TTYL
bb

Too Popular – Finally

The last two weeks has seen a flood of people coming in to register for classes. We show them our snazzy power point presentation, give them a tour of a computer and they are even more eager to sign up.

The MAJOR problem is computer space. With more than 30 new students, we are running out of computers to work on. We went around the school yesterday trying to see how many more computers we could fit in. We will modify the existing table-desks so that they can hold three computers. With several new tables as well, we have room for about 20 more computers. Of course … room and budget to buy are two different things. Hopefully that can be solved.

The first table is now at the welders for modification. Between Santiago and I, I think the modification needs are clear. We will see later this morning.

The heads of two regions in the country – Comayagua and Cortes are both interested in our program and have promised support. They are desperate to find ways to offer more schooling to students without any increase in their budgets. They rarely get their complete budgets as it is.

In our area, there are a number of primary schools that have computers sitting idle. We may be able to get them working for our students. That is another exciting opportunity. People are now wanting to help us implement the program in their area.

Side news. I only have a few minutes today to talk so must hurry. I filled out the evaluation form for Natasha – a government program that is enabling Canadian students to work abroad for several months – a semester. It is a fantastic program because it pays their expenses. Only one tiny glitch. Their evaluation numbers are opposite to what I expected. Number 3 is the highest score and number 1 the lowest. Fortunately, I sent a copy of the evaluation to Natasha for approval before submission and she caught the error. ¨We´re number three, we´re number three¨. No wonder our athletes have trouble going for gold.

Yesterday, Santiago and I went to lay out a Mandala garden – a circular garden which utilizes about 80% of the space for growing (with nitrogen fixing ground cover on the pathways we will actually be in the 95% range). We left Marcos, another worker, with the task of planting the mulch plants around the perimter and in the pathways. We will see on Saturday how he fared. We will see in a month or two how the plants fared. The circle is 10 M diameter so is a fair size. I am confident that it will prove a good alternative method for cropping vegetables. A family with 16 of these circles could feed themselves and, likely, make a basic income from sales. We shall see what it looks like with vegeta bles. So much easier on paper.

As we turned a corner, a flash of white ran off the road into a stream bed. Split seconds later, we heard guns cocking and police came into sight. Another few seconds and a police pick up sped off. As it was on our way, naturally, we followed. A second corner and we saw the fugitive dashing through a cornfield. The police were out and after him, firing as they ran (not too effectively as nothing happened to the runner – however, having done hunting in the past, I know all too well what adrenalin does to your shooting ability). Very shortly they caught up with him and we moved on to the next scene of the day.

We are trying to download an antivirus program. Our first attempt didn´t work. We tried again last evening. I will see how the computer in the school fared. My computer here at home, failed at the first attempt – I checked at 1:30 a.m. but seems to have succeeded in round two. We have to burn a cd and then try it out.

That is about it for news today. Having some repair work done in my house so have to run and get that organized. Santiago is planting some mint and basil seeds and I need to see how that is going. They are so small it is difficult to work with them. Hopefully one or two will grow. We can grow others from cuttings.

Yeni, Carolina and Jessica are working on the digital library, Manuel working on registration and liasons with other groups, Edel is working on programming and mathematics. I hang around and look busy.

TTYL

bb

Happy New Year

The New Year has started with a bang for us. This last week we hosted a group of seven leaders from CRWRC who work in various parts of Honduras. They were delighted to spend two days learning our program and finding out about our other projects. A number of them work in the field of village education and our program was an answer to their dreams. Hurrah.

In preparation for their arrival, we had several intense days working on books and getting them in shape to include in the digital library section of our program. We endeavoured to change the appearance and add colour and pictures to make the books more appealing. I realized (better late than never I guess) that my staff, having never read books, had very little idea of how to make a page look more interesting. Some crash courses and demonstrations later, we were all on the same page ... so to speak.

New students are arriving every day and we have several NGO’s making inquiries about our program. It is exciting to be on the cusp of something big (we hope). A visit to the head of the Comayagua region educational system started out cool but, after seeing our new and improved power point presentation, he was very interested. So interested, in fact, that he phoned the deputy minister and asked about our program and then phoned us ready to sign on. We have been confident that our system is the best of show in Honduras and these past two weeks are showing that others are also impressed.

At the same time, we tracked down two new types of stoves being made here in Honduras. Both use the Rocket Stove principle of combustion but one is movable and the other is stationary. It was such a pleasure to see them. The stationery one, Lucy (model name ... the stove that is) has good potential to incorporate a water heating system in the chimney. The makers, who came to talk to us about the stove, were quite pleased with the idea and, after I showed them a Jompy water heater (courtesy of my trip to Kenya), they were very excited. We can use gravity/convection and the waste heat to heat a small tank (200 litres) of water for domestic use. The babies should be rather pleased to have a warm bath I should think.

On Friday, we went to see yet another form of building using the Poured Earth concept. Gradually we are narrowing our search for a cheap yet durable building system that is within the reach of the poor. This may be one more piece to the puzzle.

We have had some cold, rainy weather. Once your body becomes accustomed to plus 30’ weather each day, a drop into the high teens seems like bitter weather. Of course, none of the people suffering mid-winter storms have any sympathy for our plight. I enquired from some of the guys working with me on a housing project if they had any family to rent for cold nights. They all thought they could spare one or two kids and still be warm enough themselves.

Manuel has been putting up with flooding in his barrio and the resulting backed up sewers, transport delays and so forth. The other day, in a crowded bus, his cell phone was stolen. He is hopeful that he can recover the information on his contact list from the phone company’s computers. Wednesday will see if that is the case.

This weekend was an adventure in cultural expectations. I keep hoping that I will get over these but ... sometimes I still get caught by surprise. I still like to make plans for the week and am never sure how to respond when others’ lack of planning leads to sudden surprises. Ah well ... it happens everywhere. How to live with chaos ... the challenge so far for January :)).

We are very hopeful that project funding will continue to roll in and that our project will be approved by those we have applications in front of. With the potential of some rapid expansion it is exciting but a wee bit daunting at the same time.

TTYL
bb